SCHOOL BUDGET WOULD BOOST PAY

Palm Beach County school officials have unveiled an $813.8 million budget for the 1997-98 school year that gives the district enough money to boost teacher salaries, reduce class sizes and slightly lower the tax rate.

The tentative budget proposal, which the board will adopt at a public hearing Wednesday night, essentially maintains existing services and includes an additional $13.58 million for new board initiatives.

Earlier this year, school officials estimated the board's reserve fund would be about $5.5 million, not enough to cover teachers' raises and smaller class sizes.

Giving all teachers a 1 percent raise would cost the district about $4 million. Cutting class sizes by one student from kindergarten to fifth grade would cost $3.8 million, compared with $2.5 million from kindergarten to third grade.

The price tag to do the same thing at every grade level is between $6 million and $7 million, Assistant Superintendent Roy Childers said.

"We can't know for sure until we close out the books, but that $13.5 million could even go up a little bit more," Childers said.

School Board member Sandra Richmond said she would like to see school officials focus their efforts on reducing class size in the primary grades and on boosting the qualifications for teachers' aides.

"Class size and teacher salaries are two of our key priorities, and class size is so important, especially in the younger years," Richmond said. "I would also like to look at what we can do for the teachers and how we can revamp the aide position with higher requirements and higher salaries."

The budget calls for a reduction in the tax rate from 9.788 mills to 9.585 mills, a decrease that will result in lower tax bills for homeowners whose properties are not re-assessed.

Highlights of the district's capital budget include $800,000 for the design of a high school in Boynton Beach.